The in-camera RGB histogram is heavily influenced by user settings (ie Picture Style, White Balance, etc). I've seen that turning the contrast slider to -4 on "Neutral Picture Style" would seem to give a more accurate representation of RAW data on the histogram.
But what about white balance? What is the proper white balance setting (or color temperature) that will make sure that the histogram doesn't deviate too much from RAW data?
Rubber Soul wrote:
But what about white balance? What is the proper white balance setting (or color temperature) that will make sure that the histogram doesn't deviate too much from RAW data?
An accurate custom white balance. REALLY worth doing
Really? I thought an accurate white balance would yield a histogram that doesn't necessarily represent the individual RGB channels recorded in the RAW data. I'd imagine it would skew the color channels in a way that makes white appear white, even though it may not have been "white" under the actual lighting conditions.
I must admit that my understanding of these technical matters is fairly limited, so my reasoning is probably flawed somehow...
The histogram will always deviate from the raw data. After all, it is based on a dumbed down, highly compressed 8-bit jpeg that was converted from 12-bit or 14-bit raw data using a combination of in-camera user settings and picture style characteristics.
Neutral picture style is the least likely to muck things up but in terms of WB daylight is probably the most representative of what the sensor captures - whether or not it is actually appropriate for the lighting in use. I'm assuming that the sensor is biased towards being correct with white daylight as a light source.
I don't see the point in showing what the raw sensor data captured if it is not appropriate. It is better to get the WB correct.
